


Before the Flowers Bloom Again

by Dreams of Kalopsia (Sir_Arghs_III)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Plance Secret Santa 2020, Post-Canon, Romance, just for the irony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28304790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Arghs_III/pseuds/Dreams%20of%20Kalopsia
Summary: It was the greatest irony of her life, the most elaborate prank in all the universe and its alternate realities combined.Pidge was the one who had suffered from years of unrequited love, and yet it was Lance who had flowers blooming in his lungs.In a universe where Hunk never pushed Lance to ask Allura out and where Honerva atoned for her sins by saving all realities with Voltron instead of Allura, there existed a rare disease that blossomed more beautifully the closer it grew towards death.
Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19
Collections: Plance Secret Santa 2020





	Before the Flowers Bloom Again

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [sakarrie](https://sakarrie.tumblr.com/) for the [Plance Secret Santa 2020](https://plancesecretsanta.tumblr.com/).

It was always the most mundane days that end up becoming the worst ones. They turn bad in an instant and without warning, like an electrical switch for disaster: one flick of circumstance, and suddenly all the lightbulbs in your brain are flashing red in alarm.

Pidge’s switch came in the form of a phone call.

“Katie. Med bay, now. Lance collapsed.”

Six words in three sentences, delivered by her mother in two seconds. Her brows furrowed and her heart pounded like it was freefalling from the sky without a jetpack or parachute. She started running in no time.

When they parted for their respective offices just a few hours ago, Lance had cheerfully promised her to bring home pizza for dinner. When she arrived at the med bay, he was already in an Altean cryopod, Coran and Allura urgently working around it while deep in discussion with Mom and the Galaxy Garrison’s in-house doctor.

Confusion blended with Pidge’s worry. Allura and Coran in the Garrison was a natural sight—but that was before they became the Queen and Royal Advisor of Altea three years ago. Why did the two most important people of their planet have to personally deliver and set up a cryopod when even humans could operate it?

“What’s happening?” she asked to announce her presence.

Everyone visibly stiffened. Four pairs of eyes darted in her direction, troubled expressions barely smoothened out of their faces. Her already furrowed brows creased further.

“Oh, Katie...” Mom approached with hurried steps and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry. He visited my lab to ask about a flower. I didn’t know he was sick or that the flower came from his lungs until he started coughing and collap—”

“Wait, wait,” Pidge interjected. She was used to processing a barrage of data in a matter of seconds, but this particular information just… bounced right off of her brain.

Flowers?

Coming from the lungs?

And Lance, her husband whom she sees every day, _sick_?

She felt so lost and disoriented. “Can someone explain from the beginning?” She looked expectantly over her mother’s shoulders at the other three, but they merely exchanged uneasy glances.

Doctor Calvo cleared his throat. “We were actually hoping you would be the one to tell us when the symptoms started,” he said. “Commander McClain must have been sick for long enough that flowers obscure his lungs on imaging tests.”

Expectant gazes returned to her fourfold, and shame crept up her face. Because she couldn’t tell them anything about her own husband’s condition. As much of a genius as Pidge was, she couldn’t retain information she never knew existed. And as far as she knew, aside from his occasional sick jokes, Lance himself hadn’t been sick _ever_.

“I uh… I didn’t… know he was sick, either.” She lowered her eyes towards the cryopod. Lance’s face could hardly be seen through the Altean blue viewing window and the short distance that separated the two of them. He was the only person who could shed light on this whole situation, but he lay unconscious in a frozen state as if to keep everyone else in the dark.

Why and how did he manage to keep _her_ of all people from noticing anything? For some reason, apprehension seized her at the thought of finding out. So she focused instead on getting answers for the ‘what’. The technical aspects were at least easier to digest.

Pidge pulled away from her mother and turned to her Altean space family. If anyone would have a clue on what kind of disease had afflicted Lance, it would definitely be Coran. Besides, they wouldn’t be here if neither he nor Allura knew.

They wouldn’t be regarding her with sad eyes if the disease could easily be treated with a short stay in the trusty Altean cryopod.

“Tell me,” she said quietly, preparing herself for the bomb that was sure to drop.

It took some time for Coran to give an explanation. “The Meskans, the first species to be infected, call it the Kada Disease.” His usually jovial voice mellowed with an apologetic tone. She chose to ignore it in favor of obtaining more information. It wasn’t his fault, anyway.

“The Meskans? From Meskar, the—”

“—host planet for the Fourth General Assembly of the Universal Union we all attended, yes.”

But that was more than half a year ago.

Pidge’s eyes widened. Seeing her reaction, Coran and Allura nodded gravely. Mom squeezed her hand in concern.

“I’m afraid my knowledge of this rare disease is limited to what I’ve seen of a colleague way back in the day.”

“…What happened to that colleague?” she forced herself to ask.

Allura released a heavy breath. “Gravia, Father’s ambassador to Meskar at the time, had fallen in love with a Meskan during her stay in the planet. Unfortunately, the feeling was not mutual, and she returned to Altea with a broken heart. She developed the disease soon after that…” she trailed off then sent over a meaningful look, like she expected Pidge to understand everything from that sad story.

Pidge couldn’t, though.

It was possible that the disease just happened to manifest after the Altean went home. It probably had a long incubation time, or other extrinsic and intrinsic factors had influenced its development. Temporality didn’t always equate to causality. “You couldn’t possibly think that Gravia actually died of a failed romance, right?” she asked in disbelief.

The silence and increasingly pained expressions were answer enough, but the answer wasn’t one she wanted.

Her fingertips turned cold and clammy as her mind rebelled against her instinct urging her to accept the validity of what she’d just heard.

“Perhaps its more popular name would help convince you,” Coran finally said. “Florescent Cough, the disease of unrequited love.”

The cold spread from her hands and chilled her blood. Her gaze dropped to the cryopod that encased Lance.

_No way._

This had got to be the greatest irony of her life, the most elaborate prank in all the universe and its alternate realities combined.

She was the one who had suffered from years of unrequited love, and yet it was her husband who had flowers blooming in his lungs.

“No way.”


End file.
